CAG Car Thread!

I finally decided if I'm going to have more practice I might as well buy my own car. I bought this 2004 Hyundai Accent Coupe from my cousin it has 63k miles on it. He tells me it drives well just for a few electrical problems I plan to just drive it to work and for visiting family in my hometown 24 miles up north. Anyone ever had a Accent like my?
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I just bought a blue metallic 2013 Prius c Two. So far I love it. I was a little unsure of the leg room, but drove it to work today and that was fine. In fact seems to have more leg room than our '04 Toyota Matrix. I traded in the trusty '97 Ford Escort with 296k miles on it.

I got 64.4 MPG on the way to work today. We'll see how it does going home. I'm guessing it will be lower, but I don't know. It's "only" supposed to get 48/53 highway/city, I believe.
 
Got XPEL ultimate installed on my CTS-V Wagon. It's expensive but well worth it ($1500)
Protects against rock chips and other crap. This new material is easier to maintain and has it's own self healing clear coat too.

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Never get any of this stuff installed at the dealership. In fact leave the dealership with as few "options" as possible.
 
[quote name='Zoglog']Got XPEL ultimate installed on my CTS-V Wagon. It's expensive but well worth it ($1500)
Protects against rock chips and other crap. This new material is easier to maintain and has it's own self healing clear coat too.

Never get any of this stuff installed at the dealership. In fact leave the dealership with as few "options" as possible.[/QUOTE]

That is pricey, did you get the whole car done? I had the front bumper and 18" of the fenders and hood for the Touareg done and that was $600. They used Ventureshield, which also has a clear coat, but doesn't have self-healing properties.

I wish I'd had my bimmer's front bumper done because it looks like somebody took a shotgun to it with all the rock chips.
 
[quote name='encendido5']That is pricey, did you get the whole car done? I had the front bumper and 18" of the fenders and hood for the Touareg done and that was $600. They used Ventureshield, which also has a clear coat, but doesn't have self-healing properties.

I wish I'd had my bimmer's front bumper done because it looks like somebody took a shotgun to it with all the rock chips.[/QUOTE]
That's pretty much a custom full front end job at $1500. I was considering it, but the prep work alone would take too much time and this is my only ride. $600 isn't bad at all for what you got though.

edit: Btw, where'd you get it done for $600? If it's close enough, I might have to make an appointment. I'm in Boston.
 
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I got 62.x MPG on the way home, with a fair amount of stop and go, then 62.x on the way to work today. That'll do. :)

This car also has way more stuff than I've ever had in a car. Thermostat cooling/heating, bluetooth/speaker phone, USB port, etc.
 
[quote name='dohdough']That's pretty much a custom full front end job at $1500. I was considering it, but the prep work alone would take too much time and this is my only ride. $600 isn't bad at all for what you got though.

edit: Btw, where'd you get it done for $600? If it's close enough, I might have to make an appointment. I'm in Boston.[/QUOTE]

I got it done at Unique Car Care in Wakefield, so it wouldn't be too far from you. It took him about 5-6 hours to get mine done if I remember correctly. If you need a detailing job too, Rick is one of the best in the nation, but he is pricey. He doesn't use pre-cut wraps, so the Touareg was a custom job. He didn't fold the wrap into the seams or anything like that, but it is cut really well.

Here's one of his threads on the work that he does. I imagine the wrap on this one was expensive though for all the work he had to do.

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-...-ultimate-self-healing-clear-bra-install.html

edit: here's a thread with before and afters when he detailed my car.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1327488-Before-the-Unique-Car-Care-treatment
 
[quote name='encendido5']I got it done at Unique Car Care in Wakefield, so it wouldn't be too far from you. It took him about 5-6 hours to get mine done if I remember correctly. If you need a detailing job too, Rick is one of the best in the nation, but he is pricey. He doesn't use pre-cut wraps, so the Touareg was a custom job. He didn't fold the wrap into the seams or anything like that, but it is cut really well.

Here's one of his threads on the work that he does. I imagine the wrap on this one was expensive though for all the work he had to do.

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-...-ultimate-self-healing-clear-bra-install.html

edit: here's a thread with before and afters when he detailed my car.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1327488-Before-the-Unique-Car-Care-treatment[/QUOTE]
LOLZ...he's less than 10 minutes from me actually and I already went to him for a detail job.:lol:

But yeah, he's pricey. Nice guy though!

edit: Just saw your thread and I noticed a few common things in regards to our detail jobs. The paint correction is a little inconsistent when it comes to big/deep scratches and light/small scratches. I mean it's good that he focuses most of the time on bigger stuff like acid etching and shopping cart scuffs, but I think that there should be a little more time spent on smaller stuff as well. I've had my car detailed by others and things like the scratches where the doors meet the fenders would've been taken out. I wasn't able to give him the full 4-5 hours he need to detail it, but next time, I'm going to leave the car for the day and just take the commuter rail into town if he can do a 3 step paint correction to either opticoat or xpel. Not sure how he'd do the rock chips though...haha.
 
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[quote name='dohdough']LOLZ...he's less than 10 minutes from me actually and I already went to him for a detail job.:lol:

But yeah, he's pricey. Nice guy though!

edit: Just saw your thread and I noticed a few common things in regards to our detail jobs. The paint correction is a little inconsistent when it comes to big/deep scratches and light/small scratches. I mean it's good that he focuses most of the time on bigger stuff like acid etching and shopping cart scuffs, but I think that there should be a little more time spent on smaller stuff as well. I've had my car detailed by others and things like the scratches where the doors meet the fenders would've been taken out. I wasn't able to give him the full 4-5 hours he need to detail it, but next time, I'm going to leave the car for the day and just take the commuter rail into town if he can do a 3 step paint correction to either opticoat or xpel. Not sure how he'd do the rock chips though...haha.[/QUOTE]

That is pretty funny. What town are you in? I'm in Andover.

Are there other detailers in the area you recommend and aren't as pricey? I thought about taking my car back to him, but I didn't think it was worth it on a 7 year old car. Instead, I went to Harbor Freight and bought a DA for $50 and some pads. It's been getting pretty good reviews even though it's so cheap. I already have M105 and M205, so I only spent about $100 on the stuff.

Since we're moving to a house with a garage at the beginning of August, I figure I can dedicate some time to the car on my own time. I don't know if I want to take the time to wet sand some of those small scratches out or if I should get a Langka kit though.
 
[quote name='encendido5']That is pretty funny. What town are you in? I'm in Andover.

Are there other detailers in the area you recommend and aren't as pricey? I thought about taking my car back to him, but I didn't think it was worth it on a 7 year old car. Instead, I went to Harbor Freight and bought a DA for $50 and some pads. It's been getting pretty good reviews even though it's so cheap. I already have M105 and M205, so I only spent about $100 on the stuff.

Since we're moving to a house with a garage at the beginning of August, I figure I can dedicate some time to the car on my own time. I don't know if I want to take the time to wet sand some of those small scratches out or if I should get a Langka kit though.[/QUOTE]
I'm in Woburn and he's literally 3 miles down the street from me.

As for other detailers, I know that there are a couple in the area with one that will go to your home and do it. The guys I used were brothers and basically doing it out of their garage at home as a side job for $250 on my RSX which is full interior and exterior detailing and dressing with hand wash and full car claybar treatment. I doubt that they could do the major paint correction like Rick, but all the fine scratches were completely gone. Not to mention that they used carnuba wax so it had a super deep glossy wet shine, whereas Rick's finishing isn't that deep. I'm sure he could do it if you asked, but it'll probably extra $$$. Unfortunately, the brothers I went to had kids a couple years ago so no more detailing.

I'm so jealous that you'll have a garage though. Detailing by hand is a painful process in an outdoor parking lot. If I had a garage, I'd do it myself too. Wish I could give you tips on those scratches.
 
[quote name='dohdough']I'm in Woburn and he's literally 3 miles down the street from me.

As for other detailers, I know that there are a couple in the area with one that will go to your home and do it. The guys I used were brothers and basically doing it out of their garage at home as a side job for $250 on my RSX which is full interior and exterior detailing and dressing with hand wash and full car claybar treatment. I doubt that they could do the major paint correction like Rick, but all the fine scratches were completely gone. Not to mention that they used carnuba wax so it had a super deep glossy wet shine, whereas Rick's finishing isn't that deep. I'm sure he could do it if you asked, but it'll probably extra $$$. Unfortunately, the brothers I went to had kids a couple years ago so no more detailing.

I'm so jealous that you'll have a garage though. Detailing by hand is a painful process in an outdoor parking lot. If I had a garage, I'd do it myself too. Wish I could give you tips on those scratches.[/QUOTE]

Nice, well if things don't work out with the DIY route, I'll send you a PM to see if I can get the names of those guys. It never hurts to price shop.

I'll post up some before and after pictures once I get it done. I'm thinking I'll just go the Langka route for now since it's safer and see how that goes.
 
Yeah,

The Xpel ultimate stuff definitely demands a price premium, but it also comes with a 10 year warranty. And if you read around the material is amazing. The self healing alone is pretty impressive.

Venture shield is good, but less warranty, is more prone to yellowing, and requires more care since it's porous.

Overall since I plan on keeping the car awhile the Xpel ultimate was worth the cost. But yeah that price was for the full front, hood, and fenders.

The guy took 6 hours alone to install the hood. It pays to find a good installer who will take the proper time and attention.
 
I drive a crown vic because it is "safer" with kids. Sucks to have rear wheel drive in the winter in MI. It is fun to see people freak out when I drive by slowly, though. My husband is a master mechanic and can fix anything I break, so I have never had a "nice new car"... but we have lots of fun toys: 66 Mustang, 95 Mustang GT..etc. That's how he taught me to drive a manual trans.
 
Took my car up the 101,154, and the 1 up to Monterey from LA. What a drive. After you get past the slow aholes who won't use the runoffs it's quite a fun drive. Didn't see single police officer on the 1. But then again it was July 4th. All my life i'd been driving up the 5 so it was quite refreshing. I can't drive enough.

Also stopped by Laguna Seca on the way up

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NjYGtxClsM

want want want want want....

meanwhile, installed a new cold air intake in my V

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qilWeJpZY50

 
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A pos Chevy Malibu 02. Hope to replace it this Fall but have a sneaking feeling it really won't be until sometime after the new year assuming this one holds out that long.

 
98 Honda Civic with faulty AC, busted ignition/steering wheel collumn from when it was stolen and the check engine light is on for a catalytic converter malfunction (thus it cannot pass smog check even though it passed the emissions test). Think I should get rid of it? Haha. It has 135k miles on it and I wish I could take it to 200,000 miles, but there is so much to repair.

It gets such good mileage, though. They want 675 to fix the catalytic converter and about 125 for the O2 sensor. I think labor is $74/hour. I would get a free retest and it would be sure to pass because the only reason it fails is because the light is on. Like I said, it PASSES the emissions test. Check engine is an automatic fail, which I wish they told me about before I paid $50 for a smog test.
 
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Spokker said:
Check engine is an automatic fail, which I wish they told me about before I paid $50 for a smog test.
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That seems crazy, my check engine light used to come on all the time on my old Jetta and it was some damn sensor that kept going. Point is that light could be on for all kinds of reasons. I started just ignoring mine unless the car felt like it was driving differently. Sometimes it would just turn off by itself.

 
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Went to a novice autocross event on Saturday thanks to dohdough.  That was the best $50 I've spent on my car!  I beat out a Corvette, but I did lose to a Prius :lol:

dohdough, I'm going to try to make the September 8th event.  My wife will be starting work though, so it's going to be busy in the encendido household.

I'm waiting for the owner of the red bimmer to post my videos but here's a pic:

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encendido5 said:
Went to a novice autocross event on Saturday thanks to dohdough. That was the best $50 I've spent on my car! I beat out a Corvette, but I did lose to a Prius :lol:

dohdough, I'm going to try to make the September 8th event. My wife will be starting work though, so it's going to be busy in the encendido household.

I'm waiting for the owner of the red bimmer to post my videos but here's a pic:

9591981153_08ab7991dc_c.jpg
Click to expand...
Nice! Those Prius' can be pretty deceiving!

I actually went to get fitted for a helmet and holy crap, the only one that fit was like $700!! :rofl:

Can't wait to see the vids!

 
benjamouth said:
That seems crazy, my check engine light used to come on all the time on my old Jetta and it was some damn sensor that kept going. Point is that light could be on for all kinds of reasons. I started just ignoring mine unless the car felt like it was driving differently. Sometimes it would just turn off by itself.
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My CEL comes and goes all the time, but has recently been on almost all the time now. It's a faulty o2 sensor, so it's not too big of an issue. I ignore the light, but when inspection time comes around. I picked up one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KL0I9I/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The best $10 I've spent on my car. The thing does just about everything, including resetting the CEL right before you take it for inspection. :whistle2:$

 
dohdough said:
Nice! Those Prius' can be pretty deceiving!

I actually went to get fitted for a helmet and holy crap, the only one that fit was like $700!! :rofl:

Can't wait to see the vids!
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Holy crap... I ended up borrowing one from a buddy of mine. They have some on Amazon for $50 that I was tempted at getting too.

 
And that's how it begins ;)

encendido5 said:
Went to a novice autocross event on Saturday thanks to dohdough. That was the best $50 I've spent on my car! I beat out a Corvette, but I did lose to a Prius :lol:

dohdough, I'm going to try to make the September 8th event. My wife will be starting work though, so it's going to be busy in the encendido household.

I'm waiting for the owner of the red bimmer to post my videos but here's a pic:

9591981153_08ab7991dc_c.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Used to own a '87 Toyota Celica GT Hatchback, looked like this:

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Except mine was painted black with green trim and brakes. Now I'm getting a big 'ol white SUV.

 
irideabike said:
spokker the O2 sensor is usually an hour or two fix in your own garage for a beginner.
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As long as you get a good socket and PB Blast the hell out of it. I tried replacing mine earlier this year and ended up breaking the O2 socket (and almost my arm when the socket snapped). The fucking thing would not budge.

 
sp00ge said:
As long as you get a good socket and PB Blast the hell out of it. I tried replacing mine earlier this year and ended up breaking the O2 socket (and almost my arm when the socket snapped). The fucking thing would not budge.
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Just go to autozone or advance autoparts and "rent" an o2 sensor kit. Makes life much easier. Usually they make you put $100 or $150 down on a CC, do your job, return it and they put it back on the card.

 
Zoglog said:
don't you fing hate it when this happens?

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I mean... seriously guy... farthest spot from the casino
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It's almost as if they felt bad for your car, being so lonely and by itself. I would've door-dinged the fucker just because. (not really, I'm not a dick like that)

 
What are the regular's opinions on buying a car on a loan vs. leasing? I'm in the very early stages of researching my next car purchase and I am considering leasing my next vehicle. I see many people swear against this but here's my situation:

I like the idea of just having a car for a few years (most leases seem to be 3 years) then having the option to upgrade a newer car via a new lease term or just buy the one I leased (which does not usually seem to be a good choice but an option nonetheless). I like that the payments would be significantly lower than a monthly loan payment and I wouldn't be at the mercy of the dealership/bank for years.

I know there are terms like mileage limits (from my digging thus far seems like they give you 36k allowance before extra charges) but I only put 20k on my current used car which I use for work and recreation since I've owned for 6 years so going over there is not a concern. I just have to research more of what I can and can't do with the vehicle since it's not mine and they set terms and rules on things like that. I've heard some are very strict and won't even let you do your own oil changes or basic maintenance unless you take it to an authorized dealer garage which peeves me. So far it sounds like doing this would be a better option since I think the positives outweigh the negatives for me and my preferences but was curious to hear an outsider's perspective on it.

 
If you need to have a new car and cannot actually afford a new car the proper way, then leasing is for you. I personally like to run a car into the ground so I would never lease. I would also never buy new, but a lot of people have the same idea so used car prices are inflated now. Also, cash for clunkers took a lot of old but usable cars off the market.
 
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There's a really good deal on Volts in socal for leasing. 3 Years is perf for the carpool sticker plus the battery technology will only get better so it's better to lease these type of vehicles

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F me... I curbed my rear wheel not paying attention and rushing to get back to work.  It's not even worth repairing since a new one will cost about the same.  

 
encendido5 said:
F me... I curbed my rear wheel not paying attention and rushing to get back to work. It's not even worth repairing since a new one will cost about the same.
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That sucks dude. So getting it fixed will cost about the same as getting a new rim for your bimmer? Was the damage that bad or are the rims that cheap? :D
 
Well its not as bad as I originally thought. Still sucks though.
zevegesa.jpg


People online say it will be $125-$150. The wheel cost $250 so it's not that far off.

Oh well, I'm going to live with it for now.
 
Youch. Your wheel ate some serious curb.

Enkei Raijins? VERY nice wheels. I was thinking(more like daydreaming) about getting some, but tires would add another grand so I left it as a daydream...haha.

What I Really want are Rays Gramlight 57Xtreme's.
 

GT86_57Xtreme.jpg


Price? About $3k with tires and lugnuts. :rofl:

 
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Yep, that's it. When I was researching them, I saw a few FRS/BRZ with the setup and they looked pretty sweet.

Holy crap, that's a lot. I can't imagine curbing one of those expensive wheels.
 
Hahaha...$250 is already too expensive for me. I wanted to cry when I curbed the BRZ like 2 weeks after I bought it. I'll probably get it fixed while it's in the shop though. :D

Any vids of your autocross yet? Looks like I'm going to have to live vicariously through you for a while.

 
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Haha...yup. Pulled into a space when I should've just backed into it.

Those videos made my pants tight. I knew I should've cancelled my plans and gone out with you that day!

 
hehe I lightly curbed my rims. Thankfully nothing severe. Used a sharpie to cover it up :/

Something of an issue with visibility in newer cars. Oh well. Not sure how much my rims would cost to replace, but a full set of Michellin PS2 tires is like 1.7k for a full set. I might go for the hankook evo or the super sports as replacements soon.

 
I'm looking at Super Sports as replacements too, but I'll probably stick with the stockies for another year. I figure that the SS's couldn't be any noisier than the Prius tires I'm on now. I feel like I'm drawing too much attention when I make tight turns cause it sounds like I'm peeling out at 10mph. :rofl:

For $1.7k, do you have 20's or something? :D

 
dohdough said:
I'm looking at Super Sports as replacements too, but I'll probably stick with the stockies for another year. I figure that the SS's couldn't be any noisier than the Prius tires I'm on now. I feel like I'm drawing too much attention when I make tight turns cause it sounds like I'm peeling out at 10mph. :rofl:

For $1.7k, do you have 20's or something? :D
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naw, stock 19's. It's just Michelin PS2 Pilots tend to be very expensive. Amazing summer handling. Will kill you in snow and cold weather.

 
Have you guys tried the Hankook V12s?  A bunch of people over on the bimmer forums use them and really like them.
 
In other news, my car overheated this past weekend.  I was driving down the highway and all of a sudden, the thermostat light came on and my car started losing power.  I had to pull over to the side and let it cool down.  I slowly made my way to the next exit, which was a half a mile, and then to a gas station.  
 
I had to have it towed to the dealer since it was closest and I don't have AAA.  It turned out to be the water pump.  They replaced the water pump and thermostat and also found the serpentine belt was loose because the tensioner was failing.  So after $1750, I have my car back.    :headache:
 
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encendido5 said:
Have you guys tried the Hankook V12s? A bunch of people over on the bimmer forums use them and really like them.
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I've been seeing mixed reviews on those. Michelin PSS' are more consistent with reviews and have stronger sidewalls, but like 40% more expensive. On the brightside, $560 for a square set isn't terrible for me and a $70 Visa giftcard helps. Originally, I wanted a set of Yokohama S Drives CUZ JDM IZ TYTE YO!

I'm sure that almost anything will be quieter than the hockey pucks that I currently have.

In other news, my car overheated this past weekend. I was driving down the highway and all of a sudden, the thermostat light came on and my car started losing power. I had to pull over to the side and let it cool down. I slowly made my way to the next exit, which was a half a mile, and then to a gas station.

I had to have it towed to the dealer since it was closest and I don't have AAA. It turned out to be the water pump. They replaced the water pump and thermostat and also found the serpentine belt was loose because the tensioner was failing. So after $1750, I have my car back. :headache:
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That sucks to hear, dude. My car is currently in the shop as well for body work. I had a Chrysler 200M that would move laterally whenever I hit a bump and now a Nissan Versa sedan that has the jankiest slushbox I've ever driven in as rentals. The seating position is also terrible. I hope that the morning commute tomorrow will be the last one because the Versa is making me nauseous from trying to find the proper gear in traffic.

I'm guessing you didn't have the same experience as mine and got into a nice loaner Bimmer. :D
 
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Are you really pushing your car at every corner to need the stronger sidewalls? :lol:

dohdough said:
I'm guessing you didn't have the same experience as mine and got into a nice loaner Bimmer. :D
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Ha, I wish. At least I got my car back in a day, so I can't complain in that regard. I think I only get a loaner if I go to my "home" dealer. Last time I got a 2013 328i with the 4 cylinder turbo for a loaner. It was definitely quick, but I was still happy to be back in my car.
 
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